Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst AssociateVisualize and analyze the dataMedium

A human resources department is analyzing employee satisfaction survey data in Power BI. The dataset includes 'Employee ID', 'Department', 'Survey Question', and 'Rating' (1-5 scale). The HR manager wants to visualize the distribution of ratings for each 'Survey Question' across different 'Departments'. The visual needs to clearly show the proportion of each rating (1-5) within each department's response to a specific question, enabling easy comparison of rating distributions between departments. Which visual type is most suitable for this analysis?

  1. A100% Stacked Bar Chart
  2. BLine Chart
  3. CGauge Chart
  4. DClustered Column Chart
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A. 100% Stacked Bar Chart

A 100% stacked bar chart is perfect for showing the proportion of categories (ratings 1-5) within different groups (departments). Each bar represents a department, and segments within the bar show the percentage distribution of ratings, summing to 100%. This allows for direct comparison of rating profiles across departments.

Why the other options are wrong

  • B. A line chart is for trends over time, not for comparing proportional distributions across categories.
  • C. A gauge chart shows a single KPI against a target, not a distribution of ratings.
  • D. A clustered column chart would show absolute counts, not proportions, making comparison of distributions harder.

100% Stacked Bar Chart

A bar chart where each bar represents a total, and segments within the bar represent the percentage contribution of different categories to that total, summing to 100%.

  • Excellent for showing part-to-whole relationships as percentages.
  • Ideal for comparing proportional distributions across different groups.
  • Easy to see relative contributions of each segment.

Memory trick: Bars Stacked, Percentages Packed

More Visualize and analyze the data questions